


Even in the Desert

by NebraskaWildfire



Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28837947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebraskaWildfire/pseuds/NebraskaWildfire
Summary: There can be beauty no matter where you look.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 12





	Even in the Desert

Lydia was thinking of nothing other than how much she was enjoying the dramatic landscape, when she started to hear that horrible noise again. The russet ridges of the Southwestern scenery had enthralled her and lulled her into a pleasant mood, until she heard the thump, thump, thump once more. She sighed deeply as she found a safe place to pull over.

Once she was stopped, she looked in the rear-view mirror. Not unexpectedly, there was no one coming on this desolate stretch of road, so she opened the door and slowly walked around the car, until she found the problem.

Yet another flat tire presented itself on the front passenger side. She contemplated at her beautiful, but empty surroundings once more, before she collapsed with a groan on a large rock bordering the road. Even without double-checking, she knew the spare tire in the trunk would be of no use. It had given up its air earlier that morning, when she went through another patch of rough road. The resultant gash was beyond her simple repair kit. She wasn’t certain she had the gumption left to see if the current flat would be fixable. It already had one mend. Or was it two?

She sat unmoving in the sun long enough that the top of her head was definitely hot before she decided she had to do something or she would not make it into a town before nightfall. Here in the desert, it was not a good idea to be out alone overnight. She had some water with her, but nothing to make a fire to keep the coyotes and other animals at bay.

Eventually she did open the trunk, getting her hat out of the back seat first. After a sip of her precious water, she hauled out the car jack and had just placed it on the ground, in preparation to set it properly beneath the frame of the car, when she heard another noise.

She paused, letting the jack settle quietly into the sand. It was also a sound she had heard before, but not for a little while. It was definitely not an unwelcome sound. She walked around the back of the car, just out onto the road, as a truck lumbered into view.

Holding onto her hat in the warm desert wind, she waved down the approaching vehicle, worried that it might drive on past, if they didn’t happen to see the flat tire.

A wave of relief washed over her, as the driver downshifted and slowed, stopping behind her car. Now was the time, in the novels she read, that a handsome prince charming would appear and save her from certain doom. She smiled, hoping the person was at least friendly.

Slowly the driver’s door on the truck cab opened and a tall, lanky man, with a well-used cowboy hat made his way out. “Howdy! You need some help?”

With the intense sun, she could not see under the brim of his hat, but knowing she was desperate she answered as politely at the heat allowed. “Yes, sir, I’d be mighty beholding, if you could help me with this tire.” She sighed deeply, wiping the sweat off her brow. “I have another flat.”

A deep, generous laugh emerged from his mouth, as he came closer. “Yeah, these roads can really be rough on tires. You got a spare?”

As he finally stood before her, she could see him clearly. There were lines in his face, and gray hair under the hat, but the beauty of his blue eyes took her breath away. He was still a handsome man, even at his current age. He must have been drop dead gorgeous when he was younger.

“Ma’am?” He peered at her, gently reaching out a hand to take ahold of her shoulder. “You alright? Need a drink of water?” He smiled just as she was almost able to speak again. “It’s a bit warm out here today.” When she didn’t reply immediately again, he looked past her to see the jack. He bent down to adjust its placement, but smiled back up at her, asking again. “You got a spare?”

She finally looked away as he bent over and started to crank up the jack.

“Yes, sir, but I’m afraid it has a puncture too.”

“Oh.” He paused and looked first at her tire, then at his. “Well, I imagine the spare I have will work to get you to town.” He stopped to loosen the lug nuts. “Old Clete at the garage should be able to fix you up, either with a patch or new tire.”

“I surely hope one of them can be patched.” She briefly took off her hat and fanned her face, as it was bright beet red, and not just from the heat. 

“You have some water? To drink?” He stopped before he continued to raise the jack.

“Yes. Do you need some?”

“No, ma’am, but you look like a drink might be a good idea.” He bent down to finish cranking up the tire.

As she did take another drink, now knowing she’d not need it for the coming night, he swiftly replaced her tire and tossed the second flat in the trunk. He smiled at her once more, as he himself took a drink from his canteen.

“I’ll just follow you into town, to make certain you get there with no problems.”

“Thank you, Mister?”

“It’s just Jed, ma’am. The name is Jed. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”

Once they pulled up in front of Clete’s Garage, Jed hopped out of his truck.

“Got another victim of our wonderful roads for you. Miss Horner here has two flat tires.”

“I’m hoping you can fix at least one.” Lydia sighed. “I don’t know that I have the funds for two new ones.”

A hunched over man came out of the shade of the building, wiping his hands on a greasy rag. “Well, I’ll see what I can do, but no promises.”

She nodded, but dabbed her brow again.

“Why don’t you go over to Billy’s Saloon there across the street?” Jed nodded. “You could get yourself something cool to drink and maybe something for lunch.”

“A saloon?” Images of gunfighters and poker players of the Old West crossed her mind and she shook her head. “Maybe I’ll just wait here in the shade of the porch.”

“Suit yourself, but stay out of the way.” Clete glared as he took the spares back into the depths of the garage.

“Oh, Miss, it ain’t like that.” His smile crossed Jed’s face again. “Shouldn’t be anyone in there but Billy and ol’ Heyes himself. Even Miss Preston, daughter of the banker, and soloist at the church, has lunch in there sometimes. Only place in town open this time of year.”

She peered across the street again, still hesitating.

“I’m meeting my partner there myself.” He smiled confidently at her. “I just need to stop over to the mercantile first or I’ll forget what brought me to town in the first place.”

Lydia finally nodded, thinking if the saloon turned out to be a place she didn’t want to be, she’d head over to the store, to see if they had anything she could make into a lunch.

“See you there soon as I’m finished.” Jed tipped his hat and sauntered down the street, but not before he took a look back to make certain she wasn’t still standing in the sun.

She smiled and waved at him, as she determinedly started to cross the street. She paused for a second to check for traffic, but then laughed quietly to herself as there was none. Straightening her shoulders, she walked up the stairs to the door of the saloon. It still had the batwing doors, which gave her another pause, but then she pushed through.

After the noon sun blazing in the street, she was temporarily blinded by the dark interior of the building. She stopped for her eyes to adjust.

“Needin’ something miss?” Eventually she could see the bartender wiping down a couple of glasses. He seemed friendly enough, just curious.

“Um.” She cleared her throat. “I was told I could get some lunch here? I had yet another flat tire on the road just outside of town and this nice man, Jed I think he said his name was, helped me get here so that Clete over there could fix it. He said I could get some lunch here while I waited. Jed, that is, not Clete.” She stopped, clutching her purse, as she realized she was rambling.

“The Kid helped up put on your spare?” A deep voice came from the depths of the saloon. She still couldn’t see well, but peered over into the back corner from which it seemed to originate.

“Still helping out the needy.” This phrase did not carry quite so well across the deserted floor, but then his voice rose again. “Billy, why don’t you make up a tray of sandwiches, rather than just that one I had asked you for. The Kid’s bound to be hungry too, if he’s been on a mission of mercy again.”

“Sure enough, Mr. Heyes.” Billy smiled at Lydia as she cautiously approached the bar, steering away from the still ominous voice in the corner. He leaned towards her lowering his voice a bit. “Don’t worry about Heyes back there, ma’am. He may sound rough, but he’s got just as soft of a heart as the Kid does.” The bartender turned to go into the back. “Maisy, we got us a lunch rush today. Three whole people!”

“Well, that might take me a while to make that many sandwiches.” A woman’s voice grumbled from the back room, but then laughed. “They gonna want soup?”

Billy looked back towards Lydia, his eyebrow raising in question.  
“No, sir.” She shook her head. “I’d be happy with a sandwich and something cold to drink.” She smiled at the thought.

“You need a beer?” He looked at her quizzically. 

“Oh, no!” Her face lost its flush in the relative coolness of the saloon, but it turned bright red again. “Maybe just a root beer or coke?”

He reached into a cooler, popped the top off of a bottle and handed it to her. “Here you go.” Then he turned back towards the kitchen from which grumbling could be heard. “Coming, Maisy.”

She held the bottle for a moment, just relishing the cold. Then she let the refreshing liquid trickle down her parched throat. She sighed.

“If it weren’t so darn hot, I wouldn’t mind a bowl of soup, not that anyone asked me.”

Lydia turned towards the far corner. Now that her eyes had adjusted, she could see a slender man sitting at a table in the back, playing a game of solitaire. He had on a disreputable old black cowboy hat that looked like it was falling to pieces. It was pulled low over his face, so all she could see were a pair of bright eyes and a mass of pure white hair.

“Might as well come join me. I won’t bite.” The man pushed out a chair by him. “I need to hear the story of what all the Kid did for you, before he comes in here with his own version.”

“Does he exaggerate often?” She took another sip of her cold drink before she gathered the courage to approach him. “He seemed very kind and helpful.”

“I shouldn’t scare you.” The man laughed quietly as she came closer. “He is kind and helpful, to anyone who needs it.” He patted the seat of the chair next to him. “Why don’t you sit on down and tell me everything. The Kid will downplay whatever he did. I tease him that he can’t get to town without saving a baby bird or wayward traveler.”

“Well, I was in sore need of help, with my spare tire already flat from another puncture this morning.” 

As she sat down, he pushed up his hat with one finger. He gave her a friendly smile and she saw a dimple appear right before his dark, sparkling eyes captured her attention. His hair was snow white, but glorious and abundant. She stopped herself from reaching out to see if it was as soft as it looked. 

As dry and deserted as the landscape was around this small town, she decided they were doing something right, if there was not one but two men who were still so handsome at their ages.

“Now tell me your tale.” He gathered the cards from his game, shuffling them with no effort or attention, and setting the deck on the table before them. 

Before she could gather her scattered nerves enough to utter one word, the bat wing doors swung open and in walked Jed.

“Heyes, I sent a young lady in here to get lunch. Hopefully you didn’t scare her away.” His eyes must have adjusted easier than Lydia’s had, as he almost immediately noticed her sitting at the table. “Well, it looks like at least he got you a cold drink.”

Suddenly, something clicked in her tired brain and a connection that she had not made earlier occurred to her. She looked from one of them to the other.

“You called him Heyes and he called you Kid.”

The man in the black hat sighed and started to shuffle his cards again. “Kid, please don’t tell me that you brought in another one of those damn tourists who want to see what the famous outlaws look like now that they’re old.”

“Heyes, you forgotten how to be polite?” The Kid smiled at Lydia as he took off his hat and sat on the other side of her. “He ain’t usually this cranky, just when it gets so hot.”

“We should have retired in Colorado. Would be beautiful this time of year.” 

She marveled at how his hands moved over the cards with no effort.

“We tried that, Heyes. You complained about the cold in the winter.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.” He drained his beer and dredged up a smile for her. “Well, did you come out here to see us?”

“Um.” Lydia looked from one of them to the other. “No, not really.”

“Honestly?” Heyes looked skeptical.

“Well, I had heard that you two were living somewhere out here, but I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to meet you.” She smiled from one of them to the other, glad that her luck had given her such lovely lunch companions.

“Then why are you out here? Besides gathering flat tires?”

“I traveled from Chicago to visit a couple of the native reservations.” She smiled from one of them to the other. “I’m an art history student and am writing my thesis on Hopi pottery.”

“Oh.” Heyes looked like he was disappointed, but the Kid broke out in a huge smile when he noticed Billy come with a tray full of sandwiches and more cold drinks of their choice.

“Now, Miss Horner, why don’t you ignore my grouchy old friend and tell us all about what you’re studying, while we enjoy this nice lunch.”


End file.
